1,500 Previews: How Do You Possibly Handicap This Stacked Men’s Field? Look For Mary Cain And Treniere Moser To Repeat 1-2 Finish From Last Year In Women’s

We don’t know everything about Sunday’s men’s 1,500 final at the 2014 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Albuquerque – as the men’s 1,500 is a little hard to preview as we don’t know who is going to not show up after making the 3,000 team – but we do know one thing: the men’s 1,500 at the 2014 is going to be spectacular. What an amazing field.

The full list of entrants is below (note we’ve been told Riley Masters will move to the fast heat and that has been confirmed) and the guys with Worlds qualifiers also entered in the 3,000 are Ryan Hill, Will Leer, Lopez Lomong and Galen Rupp. The 3000/1500 double isnt really doable at Worlds. Someone like Galen Rupp might make the Worlds team in the 3,000 and double back for speed work here but we don’t expect anyone to take two spots in Poland.

Bold = has worlds qualifying time of 3:58.00 indoors or 3:34.00 outdoors.

Men 1,500m

Slow heat

Name

Affiliation

Mark

Comment

Riley Masters

Brooks

3:58.35

Has the 7th-fastest seed time but is in the slow heat at the moment. Way to go, bureaucracy.

Jack Bolas

New Balance

3:59.35

Several times an All-American at Wisconsin. Lowered indoor mile PR by 2 or 3 hundredths in each of two races this season. 3:35.54 1,500 PR from last year.

Jacob Edwards

Columbus Running Company

3:59.47

Amazingly had mile PR of 4:08.02 from high school in 2007 until this year (did run 3:46.49 at Ohio state in 2011). Must be fun to lop off over 8 seconds for your first sub-4:00.

Travis Burkstrand

Team USA Minnesota

4:00.15

2013 All-American at outdoor 800 (and on indoor DMR) for Minnesota.

Josh McAlary

4:00.83

Michigan State grad ran 4:00.46 mile in college.

Donald Cabral

Nike / New Jersey New York Track Club

4:01.17

8th in 2012 Olympic steeplechase final. Amer. Coll. record of 8:19.14. Fresh off a 5:00.18 for 2,000 at Millrose, which is undoubtedly his best lifetime flat-track mid-d performance.

Robert Sandlin Jr

Bellarmine

4:01.20

1,500 DII All-American at Bellarmine.

Fast Heat

William Leer

Nike

3:52.47

Last year’s double national champ just set a WL with his 3:52.47 win in the Wanamaker Mile.

Garrett Heath

Brooks

3:38.89

Short course champ at BUPA Edinburgh XC back in January also ran PR of 7:37.40 for 3k this February.

Leonel Manzano

3:56.73

2012 silver medalist at 1,500 started the season poorly but got back on the upswing at Millrose with a reasonably competitive 3:56.73 7th place in the Wanamaker Mile. Will the good Leo or bad Leo show up at Nationals?

Craig Miller

New Balance

3:57.69

Hung tough in his 3:55.09 PR race in the Wanamaker Mile.

Duncan Phillips

3:58.01

Former Arkansas star won his only race this season with a 4:00.

Pat Casey

3:58.06

SB of 3:58.06. Lost only to Nick Willis and was ahead of Nate Brannen and Lopez Lomong with a 3:58.18 at NB Boston on Feb. 8th.

Lopez Lomong

Nike

3:58.52

Former national champ and former indoor 5k AR holder hasn’t won yet in 2014 but could be ready to strike.

Taylor Gilland

New Balance

3:58.77

Former Virginia runner just got his first sub-4:00 mile on Feb. 8th.

Ryan Hill

Nike

3:59.00

3:59 at altitude beat Lopez Lomong. Also ran big PR 7:34.87 in 3k. Really on a roll so far in 2014.

Daniel Quigley

Oregon TC Elite

3:59.59

3:59.59 this season is a lifetime best. 13:43 5k runner.

Galen Rupp

Nike

NT

The recent indoor AR setter at 5,000 and 2 miles bailed out of the mile at NB in Boston on Feb. 8th as a precaution with a minor foot problem but switched shoes and did a workout immediately after. Still no mark at 1,500/mile for 2014.

David Torrence

Nike

NT

PRs of 3:33.23 for 1,500 and 7:40.78 (outdoors) for 3k. Recently part of the new indoor WR of 7:13.11 for the 4 x 800 and more recently sped to a 4:56.99 2k at Millrose.

What a great field.

Will Leer just won the Wanamaker mile in 3:52.47 last week. How can he not make the team? Well, he’s never made a Worlds Outdoor team (he did make World Indoors in 2010) and there is A TON of talent in this race.

David Torrence has run 3:33 outdoors (Leer’s best is 3:35) and just ran a 4:56.99 2,000 last week. Guess what 4:56.99 converts to for a mile? 3:52-flat for the mile – faster than Leer’s time.

Ryan Hill ran 3:54 in the mile last year while in college and seems to be at a new level in 2014.

Garrett Heath has beaten Asbel Kiprop and Kenenisa Bekele in cross-country this year and run 7:37 for 3,000 and 3:54 for the mile.

Lopez Lomong ran 3:51 last year and was only a second behind Nick Willis in Boston and Willis just ran 3:53 at Millrose.

Don’t forget “Mr Clutch” Leo Manzano. You may have written off the2012 Olympic silver medalist after he ran 4:04 in Boston two weeks ago. However, he then ran 3:56 at Millrose last week and is AMAZINGLY good at running well when the pressure is on the line.

And if he shows up, how can you discount Galen Rupp? He was talking about going for the World Record in the indoor mile earlier this year and ran 3:50 indoors last year.

One thing worth noting is Bernard Lagat is not double entered at USAs (he actually didn’t have a qualifier but also has no interest in the 1,500). If he doesn’t make it in the 3,000, he’s not going to Worlds in Poland.

We do know one thing. USATF has screwed this one up by either not having prelims or not sticking to their field sizes. If they fill the fast heat, there will only be a handful of guys in the slow heat.

The women’s 1,500 team is much easier to predict. Mary Cain is #3 in the world right now (admittedly seven seconds down on #2) and is going to Poland. After Millrose last week, which Cain won, we think the #2 spot is going to her teammate Treniere Moser. Moser was more than a second behind Cain, but came close to her in the 1k in Boston earlier this winter. The next closest American to Cain at Millrose was Sarah Brown, who was more than a second behind Moser.

Club Nationals XC individual champ in December. Will probably focus on 3,000.

Clerc Simpson

Brooks

4:41.72

Rapidly improving. Beat Lauren Fleshman to win 4:41 mile race and got the best of a few national class runners in recent 3,000 PR race.

Lindsey Drake

Bowerman Athletic Club

4:42.32

Former Gonzaga runner has an outdoor PR of 4:17.79.

Dana Mecke

4:42.79

4:15.49 1,500 PR for the former UT-San Antonio runner. Was 6th in this meet (mile) last year.

Brigitte Mania

Connecticut

4:43.68

UConn runner has 4:43.68 mile PR.

Shannon Rowbury

Nike

4:01.28 last year outdoors. WC bronze medalist from 2009. Has made the finals in the last 2 Olympic Games in the 1,500. Still hasn’t put up a really fast mark yet this year.

Carmen Graves

Roanoke Valley Elite

4:45.98

Roanoke College grad set 4:45.98 mile PR in at Valentine Invy.

Fast Heat

Sarah Brown

New Balance

4:11.27

Set mile PR with 4:29.62 at NB New York and was 4th at Millrose in 4:30.13. 8th at 2010 World Indoors in 1,500. Outdoor PR of 4:05.27. 5th in USA indoor mile in 2013.

Gabriele Grunewald

Brooks / Team USA Minnesota

4:12.76

Extremely good outdoor PR of 4:01.48. Has focused more on 3,000/2-mile this season.

Mary Cain

Nike

4:24.11

Last year’s indoor mile champ in a bizarre 5:05.68 winning time. WJR in 1,000 (2:35.80) and near-miss of WJR in mile (4:24.11) so far this season. Won Millrose mile last time out. WC finalist last year. 4:04.62 outdoor PR.

Amanda Winslow

Oiselle / New Jersey New York Track Club

4:26.28

Already set 2 PRs this season with 8:56.37 for 3,000 and 4:26.28 for the mile. Faded a bit to 9th at Millrose last time out.

Jordan Hasay

Nike

4:28.37

2013 WC team member at 10,000. Double NCAA champ indoors in 2011. SBs of 4:28.37 mile and 9:36.00 2-mile.

Treniere Moser

Nike

4:28.86

5-time national champ, including last year in 1,500 outdoors. Runner-up to now-teammate Mary Cain in the USATF mile last year. Also runner-up to Cain at Millrose this year with a mile PR. 4:02.85 outdoor 1,500 PR.

Heather Kampf

Asics / Team USA Minnesota

4:30.14

9-time All-American and 2006 NCAA indoor 800 champ at Minnesota ran an indoor PR of 4:30.14 in January. Was a pacestter at Millrose. 2012 national road mile champ also has a 4:08.37 1,500 PR.

Morgan Uceny

adidas

4:30.57

3-time national champ, 2011 WC finalist and 2012 Olympic finalist was snakebitten with falls in both global championship finals, but ranked # 1 in the world in the 1,500 in 2011. 4:00.06 outdoor PR. Had a quiet-by-comparison 2013 and early this season, but is running alright with a 4:30.57 SB.

Stephanie Charnigo

New Jersey New York Track Club

4:33.87

Former DII 800 All-American at Findlay has a 4:33.87 mile win this season.

Katherine Mackey

Brooks

4:34.99

Former 3-season All-American at Washington has a PR of 4:04.60 outdoors from last year. Has stayed under the radar with only a 4;34.99 win this season (a hundredth off her PR) and no races against the major players. 5th at USA Indoors in the 800 last year. Is a dark horse to make some noise.

Sara Vaughn

Brooks

4:35.07

4th in last year’s USATF mile. PR of 4:35.07 for the mile on the first of the month.

Rebecca Tracy

4:35.36

Former Notre Dame 1,500/mile All-American has 4:12.14/4:33.53 PRs. SB came in getting 2nd to Katie Mackey.